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Italian

Orecchiette alle cime di rapa

Non-vegetarian

Puglia's signature pasta: little ear-shaped orecchiette cooked in the same pot as bitter broccoli rabe, then tossed with olive oil, garlic, anchovy and chilli.

Orecchiette alle cime di rapa is an Italian pasta dish from Italy, ready in about 35 minutes and made with dried pasta, broccoli rabe (cime di rapa) and olive oil. It serves 4 and is rated easy to cook.

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Orecchiette pasta tossed with cime di rapa greens
Photo: Alpha from Melbourne, Australia / Wikimedia Commons · CC-BY-SA-2.0
Prep
15 min
Cook
20 min
Total
35 min
Serves
4
Level
Easy
Calories
611

Ingredients

4 servings

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    Trim the broccoli rabe (opens in a new tab): keep the florets, tender leaves and thin stems; peel or discard thick stems. Wash well and roughly chop.

    • 10 min

  2. Step 2

    Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Add the orecchiette; for dried pasta (opens in a new tab) add the greens after 5 minutes (for fresh, add them together) so both finish at the same time, about 12 minutes in total for dried.

    Salt the pasta water at about 10 g per litre — it should taste pleasantly seasoned, not like the sea.

    Pasta boiling in a pot of water
    How it looks · Photo: Gianpiero Ferraro on Pexels

  3. Step 3

    While they cook, warm the oil in a wide pan over medium-low heat with the garlic (opens in a new tab), anchovies (opens in a new tab) and chilli, stirring until the anchovies melt and the garlic is pale gold, 3–4 minutes.

  4. Step 4

    Drain the pasta (opens in a new tab) and greens, keeping a cup of water, and toss them in the garlic (opens in a new tab) oil over the heat for a minute with a splash of the water until glossy. Serve with toasted breadcrumbs (opens in a new tab) if you like.

    Food safety: Drain boiling pasta water away from you and keep children clear of the stove.

    A finished dish being plated
    How it looks · Photo: Willians Huerta on Pexels

About this dish

Origin
Puglia (especially Bari), Italy · Well documentedMore food from Italy
Dish
Lunch · Dinner · Pasta · Main courses
Cooking method
Boiled, Sautéed
Taste
bitter, garlicky, spicy (chilli heat), savoury
Diet
Pescatarian · Dairy-free · No nut ingredients · High-protein
All labelsPescatarian · Non-vegetarian · Flexitarian-friendly · Dairy-free · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · High-protein
Without the optional extras: Vegan, Plant-based, Vegetarian (lacto-ovo), Eggetarian, Lacto-vegetarian, Ovo-vegetarianWorked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for
Everyday · Budget-friendly
Cook more with
Dried pasta · Garlic · Dried whole chillies
Techniques
Sautéing · Boiling

Allergens

  • May contain: Milkfrom breadcrumbs
  • May contain: Eggsfrom dried pasta
  • Contains, can be adapted: Fishfrom anchovies
  • Contains: Wheatfrom dried pasta, breadcrumbs
  • Contains: Glutenfrom dried pasta, breadcrumbs
  • May contain: Soyfrom breadcrumbs
  • May contain: Sesamefrom breadcrumbs

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

611 kcal per serving

Estimated

1 serving ≈ 370 g · recipe makes 4

Where the energy comes from

  • Protein 13%
  • Carbohydrate 59%
  • Fat 28%
Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
NutrientPer servingPer 100 g*
Energy611 kcal165 kcal
Protein20.3 g5.5 g
Carbohydrate92.5 g25 g
Net carbohydrate82.6 g22.3 g
Sugars7 g1.9 g
Added sugars0 g0 g
Fibre9.9 g2.7 g
Fat19.3 g5.2 g
Saturated fat2.9 g0.8 g
Trans fat0 g0 g
Cholesterol0 mg0 mg
Sodium——
Salt equivalent——
Vitamins & minerals per serving
Potassium
1037 mg
Calcium
144 mg
Iron
5.3 mg
Magnesium
107 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)
83 µg
Vitamin C
224 mg
Vitamin D
0 µg
Vitamin B12
0 µg
Folate (DFE)
549 µg

How these numbers were made

  • Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
  • *Per 100 g of combined raw ingredients; the cooked dish may weigh more or less.
  • Optional ingredients are not included: anchovies, breadcrumbs.
  • Not counted (tiny amounts or “to taste”): salt — so sodium is shown as unknown.
  • Broccoli rabe (cime di rapa): Raw broccoli (FDC 170379) used as a stand-in; broccoli rabe is a close brassica relative with a similar nutrient profile.
  • “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
  • Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

  • Some of the greens break down into a rough sauce — that's how it should be.

Common mistakes

  • Under-salting the water: the greens need seasoning too.

Storage

  • Best freshly made; leftovers keep 1 day in the fridge.

Variations

  • Without anchovies: Many families leave them out, finishing with extra oil and toasted breadcrumbs.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

Used in steps 1, 2, 3, 4

Reviews & corrections

Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

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